From March 4 to 7, NVOT students traveled to the Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City to compete at the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) State Conference. Throughout the three-day conference, students competed in events ranging anywhere from Business Law to Website and UX Design. Competitors fought to place within the top three, earning them a spot at DECA’s International Career and Development Conference (ICDC).
Of the 44 students who traveled to Harrah’s, four students qualified for the April International Career Development Conference (ICDC), with three students placing as finalists, two of who will be traveling down to attend as part of the leadership conference in Orlando, Florida. These are the qualifiers:
- Anna Bergelson, Chloe Parsi, and Ariana Kim (Integrated Marketing Campaign)
- Ellie Kim (Business Services Marketing)
- Sophie Yoo, Chloe Won, and Lillian Nam (Start-up Business Plan)
To qualify for DECA states, students had to first compete at regionals, competing against others in their category of choice. According to advisor Mr. Marino, “There is a tremendous amount of value and learning to be had just from taking part in the event.”
Although not qualifying for ICDC, senior Bailey Lim agrees, “Despite not making ICDC, I thought the overall experience was really rewarding. I spent time with my friends competing in a topic we enjoyed and I think we came back smarter and closer as friends.”
While states was the end of the road for most, the journey continues for the ICDC qualifiers. According to Ariana Kim, “DECA has been such a fun experience. Even though I’ve only done it for two years, I’ve learned a lot through the past conferences. Can’t wait to take on nationals!”